Catcher&#39;s leg guard

ABSTRACT

A catcher&#39;s leg guard includes an upper knee cover, a lower knee cover and a shin cover. The upper knee cover has a kneepad attached securely to an inner surface of the upper knee cover. The lower knee cover is connected rotatably to the upper knee cover. The shin cover is mounted below the lower knee cover and has an inner surface and a shin pad. The shin pad is attached securely to the inner surface of the shin cover. When a catcher is in a standing position, the upper knee cover retracts relative to the lower knee cover. When the catcher is in a squatting position, the upper knee cover and the lower knee cover are open to fully cover a knee of the catcher. Therefore, the leg guard can be securely and comfortably worn on the catcher&#39;s leg.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a leg guard, and more particularly to aleg guard that can be worn on a catcher's leg securely.

2. Description of the Prior Arts

Leg guards worn in front of legs are protective equipment commonly usedby catchers in baseball or softball and serve to protect the legs fromimpact by a ball at high speed.

With reference to FIG. 5, a conventional catcher's leg guard generallycomprises a knee cover 60, a shin cover 70 and multiple straps 80. Theknee cover 60 includes an inner surface and a kneepad 61. The kneepad 61is attached to the inner surface of the knee cover 60 and extendsdownward to connect to the shin cover 70. The shin cover 70 includes ashin pad 71 attached to an inner surface of the shin cover 70. Thestraps 80 are respectively mounted on two sides of the kneepad 61 andthe shin cover 70. In use, the straps 80 are fastened around a shank 91and a thigh 92 to make the knee cover 60 and the shin cover 70positioned on a knee and the shank 91.

A catcher's knees act regularly because the catcher must be either in asquatting position to catch a ball delivered by a pitcher or in astanding position to throw a ball to another player. However, suchone-piece hard knee cover 60 cannot bend in accordance with activity ofthe knee and thereby causes discomfort to the catcher. Besides, the kneecover 60 easily slips from the catcher's knee when the catcher changespositions and thereby the catcher must readjust the knee cover 60 to anormal position. Readjusting the knee cover 60 distracts the catcher'sattention and a mistake may be made.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a catcher'sleg guard to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a catcher's legguard having an upper knee cover and a lower knee cover that can rotaterelative to each other in accordance with activity of a knee.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the catcher's leg guard inaccordance with the present invention comprises an upper knee cover, alower knee cover and a shin cover. The upper knee cover includes aninner surface, a shell and a kneepad. The kneepad is attached securelyto the inner surface of the upper knee cover. The lower knee cover isconnected rotatably to the upper knee cover. The shin cover is mountedbelow the lower knee cover and includes an inner surface and a shin pad.The shin pad is attached securely to the inner surface of the shincover. When a catcher is in a standing position, the upper knee coverretracts relative to the lower knee cover. When the catcher is in asquatting position, the upper knee cover and the lower knee cover areopen to fully cover a knee of the catcher. Therefore, the leg guard canbe securely and comfortably worn on the catcher's leg.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a catcher's leg guard in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged exploded perspective view of thecatcher's leg guard in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are operational side views of the catcher's leg guard inFIG. 1 showing that the leg guard is worn on a leg; and

FIG. 5 is an operational side view of a conventional catcher's leg guardin accordance with the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIG. 1, a catcher's leg guard in accordance with thepresent invention comprises an upper knee cover 10, a lower knee cover20 and a shin cover 30.

With further reference to FIG. 2, the upper knee cover 10 includes aninner surface, a curved shell 11, a connecting sheet 12 and a kneepad13. The shell 11 has a curved outer surface, two sides, a top edge, twopivoting holes 111, two guiding blocks. 112, a connecting portion 113and a barrier protrusion 114. The pivoting holes 111 are respectivelyformed through the sides of the shell 11. The guiding blocks 112respectively protrude from the sides of the shell 11 and arerespectively adjacent to the pivoting holes 111. The connecting portion113 extends from the top edge of the shell 11. The barrier protrusion114 is formed on and protrudes from a bottom edge of the connectingportion 113. The connecting sheet 12 is connected pivotally to theconnecting portion 113 of the shell 11, is positioned above theconnecting portion 113 of the shell 11 and has an upper elastic strap121. The upper elastic strap 121 is connected to the connecting sheet 12at a middle portion and has two ends and two fabric strips 122,123. Onefabric strip 122 is mounted on one of the ends of the upper elasticstrap 121 and has tiny hooks. The other fabric strip 123 is mounted onthe other end of the upper elastic strap 121 and has tiny loops engagingthe tiny hooks. The kneepad 13 is attached securely to the inner surfaceof the upper knee cover 10.

The lower knee cover 20 is connected rotatably to and covers the shell11 of the upper knee cover 10, is a curved shell and includes a curvedinner surface, two sides, a top edge, a bottom edge, two pivoting holes21, two curved guiding slots 22 and two pins 23. The curved innersurface of the lower knee cover 20 corresponds to the curved outersurface of the shell 11 of the upper knee cover 10. The pivoting holes21 are respectively formed through the sides of the lower knee cover 20and respectively align with the pivoting holes 111 of the upper kneecover 10. The guiding slots 22 are respectively formed through the sidesof the lower knee cover 20 and respectively adjacent to the pivotingholes 21 for receiving the guiding blocks 112 of the upper knee cover 10and allowing the guiding blocks 112 of the upper knee cover 10 to movealong the guiding slots 22. The pins 23 are respectively mounted throughthe pivoting holes 111 of the upper knee cover 10 and respectivelyextend through the pivoting holes 21 of the lower knee cover 20 toconnect the upper knee cover 10 and the lower knee cover 20 pivotally.

The shin cover 30 is mounted below the lower knee cover 20, is aninverted triangle-shaped shell and includes two sides, a top end, abottom end, an inner surface, two pairs of corresponding lower elasticstraps 31,31A, a shin pad 32 and an instep pad 33. The two pairs of thelower elastic straps 31,31A are respectively mounted on the top end andthe bottom end of the shin cover 30. One lower elastic strap 31 of eachpair has a fixed end, a free end and a loop 311. The fixed end of thelower elastic strap 31 is mounted securely on one side of the shin cover30. The loop 311 is connected to the free end of the lower elastic strap31. The other lower elastic strap 31A of each pair has a fixed end, afree end, a hook 311A and an adjusting ring 312A. The fixed end of thelower elastic strap 31A is mounted securely on the other side of theshin cover 30. The hook 311A is connected to the free end of the lowerelastic strap 31A and engages the loop 311. The adjusting ring 312A ismounted on the elastic strap 31A for adjusting a length of the lowerelastic strap 31A. The shin pad 32 is attached securely to the innersurface of the shin cover 30 and has a top end and a bottom end. The topend of the shin pad 32 is securely mounted on the bottom edge of thelower knee cover 20. The instep pad 33 extends downward from the bottomend of the shin pad 32.

With reference to FIG. 3, when the leg guard in accordance with thepresent invention is worn by a catcher, the lower elastic straps 31,31Aand the upper elastic strap 121 are respectively fastened around a shank40 and a thigh 50 to make the upper and lower knee covers 10,20 and theshin cover 30 respectively positioned on a knee and the shank 40.

When the catcher is in a standing position, the upper knee cover 10retracts relative to the lower knee cover 20, the top edge of the lowerknee cover 20 abuts the barrier protrusion 114 of the upper knee cover10 and the guiding blocks 112 of the upper knee cover 10 abut bottomhole surfaces of the guiding slots 22 of the lower knee cover 20. Withreference to FIG. 4, when the catcher is in a squatting position, thethigh 50 and the shank 40 move and respectively drive the upper kneecover 10 and the lower knee cover 20 to open and to fully cover the kneeof the catcher, and meanwhile the guiding blocks 112 of the upper kneecover 10 abut top hole surfaces of the guiding slots 22 of the lowerknee cover 20. Therefore, the leg guard can be comfortably and securelyworn on the catcher's leg because the upper and lower knee covers 10,20can rotate relative to each other in accordance with activity of thecatcher's knee.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing description, togetherwith details of the structure and features of the invention, thedisclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

1. A catcher's leg guard comprising: an upper knee cover including aninner surface; a shell; and a kneepad attached securely to the innersurface of the upper knee cover; a lower knee cover connected rotatablyto the upper knee cover; and a shin cover mounted below the lower kneecover and including a shin pad attached securely to an inner surface ofthe shin cover.
 2. The catcher's leg guard as claimed in claim 1,wherein the shell of the upper knee cover has a curved outer surface;and the lower knee cover. coven the shell of the upper knee cover andincludes a curved inner surface corresponding to the curved outersurface of the shell of the upper knee cover.
 3. The catcher's leg guardas claimed in claim 1, wherein the shell of the upper knee cover has twoguiding blocks respectively protruding from two sides of the shell; andthe lower knee cover includes two guiding slots respectively formedthrough two sides of the lower knee cover for receiving the guidingblocks of the upper knee cover and allowing the guiding blocks of theupper knee cover to move along the guiding slots.
 4. The catcher's legguard as claimed in claim 2, wherein the shell of the upper knee coverhas two guiding blocks respectively protruding from two sides of theshell; and the lower knee cover includes two guiding holes respectivelyformed through two sides of the lower knee cover for receiving theguiding blocks of the upper knee cover and allowing the guiding blocksof the upper knee cover to move along the guiding holes.
 5. Thecatcher's leg guard as claimed in claim 3, wherein the shell of theupper knee cover further has two pivoting holes respectively formedthrough the sides of the shell; and the lower knee cover furtherincludes two pivoting holes respectively formed through the sides of thelower knee cover and respectively aligning with the pivoting holes ofthe upper knee cover; and two pins respectively mounted through thepivoting holes of the upper knee cover and respectively extendingthrough the pivoting holes of the lower knee cover.
 6. The catcher's legguard as claimed in claim 4, wherein the shell of the upper knee coverfurther has two pivoting holes respectively formed through the sides ofthe shell; and the lower knee cover further includes two pivoting holesrespectively formed through the sides of the lower knee cover andrespectively aligning with the pivoting holes of the upper knee cover;and two pins respectively mounted through the pivoting holes of theupper knee cover and respectively extending through the pivoting holesof the lower knee cover.
 7. The catcher's leg guard as claimed in claim1, wherein the shin pad of the shin cover has a top end securely mountedon a bottom edge of the lower knee cover; and a bottom end extendingdownward to form a shin pad.
 8. The catcher's leg guard as claimed inclaim 2, wherein the shin pad of the shin cover has a top end securelymounted on a bottom edge of the lower knee cover; and a bottom endextending downward to form a shin pad.
 9. The catcher's leg guard asclaimed in claim 3, wherein the shin pad of the shin cover has a top endsecurely mounted on a bottom edge of the lower knee cover; and a bottomend extending downward to form a shin pad.
 10. The catcher's leg guardas claimed in claim 4, wherein the shin pad of the shin cover has a topend securely mounted on a bottom edge of the lower knee cover; and abottom end extending downward to form a shin pad.
 11. The catcher's legguard as claimed in claim 5, wherein the shin pad of the shin cover hasa top end securely mounted on a bottom edge of the lower knee cover; anda bottom end extending downward to form a shin pad.
 12. The catcher'sleg guard as claimed in claim 6, wherein the shin pad of the shin coverhas a top end securely mounted on a bottom edge of the lower knee cover;and a bottom end extending downward to form a shin pad.
 13. Thecatcher's leg guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shell of theupper knee cover has a connecting portion extending from a top edge ofthe shell; the upper knee cover further includes a connecting sheetconnected pivotally to the connecting portion of the shell and having anupper elastic strap having two ends; and two fabric strips, one fabricstrip mounted on one of the ends of the upper elastic strap and havingtiny hooks and the other fabric strip mounted on the other end of theupper elastic strap and having tiny loops engaging the tiny hooks; andthe shin cover further includes two sides; a top end; a bottom end; andtwo pairs of corresponding lower elastic straps respectively mounted onthe top end and the bottom end of the shin cover, one lower elasticstrap of each pair mounted securely on one side of the shin cover andhaving a loop and the other lower elastic strap of each pair mountedsecurely on the other side of the shin cover and having a hook engagingthe loop.
 14. The catcher's leg guard as claimed in claim 2, wherein theshell of the upper knee cover has a connecting portion extending from atop edge of the shell; the upper knee cover further includes aconnecting sheet connected pivotally to the connecting portion of theshell and having an upper elastic strap having two ends; and two fabricstrips, one fabric strip mounted on one of the ends of the upper elasticstrap and having tiny hooks and the other fabric strip mounted on theother end of the upper elastic strap and having tiny loops engaging thetiny hooks; and the shin cover further includes two sides; a top end; abottom end; and two pairs of corresponding lower elastic strapsrespectively mounted on the top end and the bottom end of the shincover, one lower elastic strap of each pair mounted securely on one sideof the shin cover and having a loop and the other lower elastic strap ofeach pair mounted securely on the other side of the shin cover andhaving a hook engaging the loop.
 15. The catcher's leg guard as claimedin claim 3, wherein the shell of the upper knee cover has a connectingportion extending from a top edge of the shell; the upper knee coverfurther includes a connecting sheet connected pivotally to theconnecting portion of the shell and having an upper elastic strap havingtwo ends; and two fabric strips, one fabric strip mounted on one of theends of the upper elastic strap and having tiny hooks and the otherfabric strip mounted on the other end of the upper elastic strap andhaving tiny loops engaging the tiny hooks; and the shin cover furtherincludes two sides; a top end; a bottom end; and two pairs ofcorresponding lower elastic straps respectively mounted on the top endand the bottom end of the shin cover, one lower elastic strap of eachpair mounted securely on one side of the shin cover and having a loopand the other lower elastic strap of each pair mounted securely on theother side of the shin cover and having a hook engaging the loop. 16.The catcher's leg guard as claimed in claim 4, wherein the shell of theupper knee cover has a connecting portion extending from a top edge ofthe shell; the upper knee cover further includes a connecting sheetconnected pivotally to the connecting portion of the shell and having anupper elastic strap having two ends; and two fabric strips, one fabricstrip mounted on one of the ends of the upper elastic strap and havingtiny hooks and the other fabric strip mounted on the other end of theupper elastic strap and having tiny loops engaging the tiny hooks; andthe shin cover further includes two sides; a top end; a bottom end; andtwo pairs of corresponding lower elastic straps respectively mounted onthe top end and the bottom end of the shin cover, one lower elasticstrap of each pair mounted securely on one side of the shin cover andhaving a loop and the other lower elastic strap of each pair mountedsecurely on the other side of the shin cover and having a hook engagingthe loop.
 17. The catcher's leg guard as claimed in claim 5 wherein theshell of the upper knee cover has a connecting portion extending from atop edge of the shell; the upper knee cover further includes aconnecting sheet connected pivotally to the connecting portion of theshell and having an upper elastic strap having two ends; and two fabricstrips, one fabric strip mounted on one of the ends of the upper elasticstrap and having tiny hooks and the other fabric strip mounted on theother end of the upper elastic strap and having tiny loops engaging thetiny hooks; and the shin cover further includes two sides; a top end; abottom end; and two pairs of corresponding lower elastic strapsrespectively mounted on the top end and the bottom end of the shincover, one lower elastic strap of each pair mounted securely on one sideof the shin cover and having a loop and the other lower elastic strap ofeach pair mounted securely on the other side of the shin cover andhaving a hook engaging the loop.
 18. The catcher's leg guard as claimedin claim 6, wherein the shell of the upper knee cover has a connectingportion extending from a top edge of the shell; the upper knee coverfurther includes a connecting sheet connected pivotally to theconnecting portion of the shell and having an upper elastic strap havingtwo ends; and two fabric strips, one fabric strip mounted on one of theends of the upper elastic strap and having tiny hooks and the otherfabric strip mounted on the other end of the upper elastic strap andhaving tiny loops engaging the tiny hooks; and the shin cover furtherincludes two sides; a top end; a bottom end; and two pairs ofcorresponding lower elastic straps respectively mounted on the top endand the bottom end of the shin cover, one lower elastic strap of eachpair mounted securely on one side of the shin cover and having a loopand the other lower elastic strap of each pair mounted securely on theother side of the shin cover and having a hook engaging the loop. 19.The catcher's leg guard as claimed in claim 7, wherein the shell of theupper knee cover has a connecting portion extending from a top edge ofthe shell; the upper knee cover further includes a connecting sheetconnected pivotally to the connecting portion of the shell and having anupper elastic strap having two ends; and two fabric strips, one fabricstrip mounted on one of the ends of the upper elastic strap and havingtiny hooks and the other fabric strip mounted on the other end of theupper elastic strap and having tiny loops engaging the tiny hooks; andthe shin cover further includes two sides; a top end; a bottom end; andtwo pairs of corresponding lower elastic straps respectively mounted onthe top end and the bottom end of the shin cover, one lower elasticstrap of each pair mounted securely on one side of the shin cover andhaving a loop and the other lower elastic strap of each pair mountedsecurely on the other side of the shin cover and having a hook engagingthe loop.
 20. The catcher's leg guard as claimed in claim 8, wherein theshell of the upper knee cover has a connecting portion extending from atop edge of the shell; the upper knee cover further includes aconnecting sheet connected pivotally to the connecting portion of theshell and having an upper elastic strap having two ends; and two fabricstrips, one fabric strip mounted on one of the ends of the upper elasticstrap and having tiny hooks and the other fabric strip mounted on theother end of the upper elastic strap and having tiny loops engaging thetiny hooks; and the shin cover further includes two sides; a top end; abottom end; and two pairs of two corresponding lower elastic strapsrespectively mounted on the top end and the bottom end of the shincover, one lower elastic strap of each pair mounted securely on one sideof the shin cover and having a loop and the other lower elastic strap ofeach pair mounted securely on the other side of the shin cover andhaving a hook engaging the loop.